The Bookbag
Hello from The Bookbag, a book review site, featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - fiction, biography, crime, cookery and anything else that takes our fancy. At Bookbag Towers the bookbag sits at the side of the desk. It's the bag we take to the library and the bookshop. Sometimes it holds the latest releases, but at other times there'll be old favourites, books for the children, books for the home. They're sometimes our own books or books from the local library. They're often books sent to us by publishers and we promise to tell you exactly what we think about them. You might not want to read through a full review, so we'll give you a quick review which summarises what we felt about the book and tells you whether or not we think you should buy or borrow it. There are also lots of author interviews, and all sorts of top tens - all of which you can find on our features page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the recommendations page.
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Supercat vs the Pesky Pirate (Supercat, Book 3) by Jeanne Willis
We all know the story, you’re a cat and you wake up one day, lick a toxic sock and end up as a crime fighting cat, right? Well SuperCat is back in this rip roaring (or should that be meowing?) adventure, SuperCat vs The Pesky Pirate. Full review...
A Fifty Year Silence by Miranda Richmond Mouillot
The story follows the narrator’s quest to find out why her mother’s parents abruptly parted and never reconciled, or even spoke another word to one another. We follow Miranda as she goes backwards and forwards between her Grandmother, whom she is very close to, and her Grandfather, whom she has always found a difficult character. She is determined to get to the bottom of the story which takes her through terrible first hand accounts of events leading up to and throughout World War Two and what Nazi occupied Europe was like for the Jewish. She is driven by the need to know what could cause two people to part so completely after going through so much together, and it’s become her academic life to find out. Full review...
The Red House by Emily Winslow
On the face of it, it seemed quite simple. It was just that as you started to unravel what had happened, what might happen, there seemed to be more skins that on an onion. Maxwell Gant had taken his fiancee to meet his mother. He and Imogen were hoping to move to Cambridge, where Maxwell had applied for a job with one of the college choirs. Imogen had an unusual history - she had been adopted when she was eight after the deaths of her parents in a car crash. She'd managed to trace her two elder brothers after the four children had been adopted by different families, but she was still looking for her younger brother, Sebastian, who was only three at the time of the accident. Full review...
How to Win Every Argument by Madsen Pirie
When a book makes a promise on its cover, call me old fashioned but I’m kinda expecting it to deliver on this. So How to Win Every Argument has me thinking that I would read it and become an expert in proving I’m right all the time (even when I’m not). I was expecting the sort of hints and tips one could use to argue successfully that the Earth is flat, chocolate is a vegetable (cocoa is a plant) and Cheerleaders should rule the world. Simples. Full review...
Stammered Songbook: A Mother's Book of Hours by Erwin Mortier and Paul Vincent (translator)
A chateau in the country. So far, a fine life behind you. Just 65 years of age. A happy collection of three successful children. Alzheimer's. You work out what's the one bummer in that circumstance. Full review...
The Well by Catherine Chanter
The subject and title of Catherine Chanter's debut novel is a country idyll of which dreams are made: charmingly ramshackle, disarmingly verdant and heaving with fertile acreage. Ruth and Mark can barely believe their luck at finding this perfect retreat, an oasis from their tired and overwrought City existence. Several months down the road and with the entire nation brought to its knees by an almost apocalyptic drought, Ruth and Mark are beginning to question their good fortune in their ownership of The Well. Full review...
The Longest Fight by Emily Bullock
Jack Munday is a retired boxer who, even in his prime, wasn’t quite good enough, so now older and wiser Jack hopes to hit the big time as a manager and believes that in Frank he has found a fighter who could get him there. Frank is young, naïve, eager to learn with a lot of talent and Jack discovers him just in time to take him under his wing before any other more established managers could sign him up. The pair make a pretty good team and Frank starts to build up an impressive boxing record and fan base and Jack sees his dreams and hard graft about to reach fruition but things are rarely simple and life, love and shady characters get in the way. Full review...
The Knowledge by Lewis Dartnell
Post apocaplyptic depictions of earth are common place in Science Fiction - the wonderful (if hugely depressing) The Road by Cormac McCarthy, The MaddAdam trilogy by Margaret Atwood (although I believe Ms Atwood would be rather rankled to hear her books described as 'Science Fiction'), and the recent Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel are just a small drop in the very deep ocean of post apocalyptic books. Full review...
The Traitor's Mark by DK Wilson
1543 - Hans Holbein - famed artist of both that time and today, has disappeared. When Thomas Treviot is left awaiting a design from Holbein, he goes to track him down - only to end up drawn into a conspiracy which threatens to destroy those he loves, and all he holds dear... Full review...
Kipper's Toybox by Mick Inkpen
There are things in life that make you feel old; when the last Premiership footballer born the same year as you retires, or when their arresting officer looks like they don’t even shave. The fact that Kipper is over 25 years old makes me feel my age; this collection of books always felt a little ageless and classic. The new 25 year anniversary releases look to cement this. Full review...
Rise by Karen Campbell
Justine is running for her life. She's had enough of being someone else's property, of being subjected to the kind of love that has seen her tattooed and owned and beaten and rented out to others to earn her keep. So she's taken what isn't hers, but then was never actually his either, and she's packed a bag, waited until he is drunk-enough asleep not to hear her say goodbye to the dog, and has left. Full review...
Gifted by Donald Hounam
Fifteen-year-old Frank is a forensic sorcerer, employed to solve murders and other grisly crimes in a world where adults get the blur and lose their eyesight by their mid-twenties, and only the young have enough sorcerous power to summon demons and angels. Full review...
Sardines of Love by Zurine Aguirre
This is a love story about Lolo and Lola, and grandfather and grandmother whose lives revolve around sardines (stay with me!) Lolo goes out fishing for sardines, and loves to eat sardines, whilst Lola his wife runs a shop selling sardines. Lola doesn't like to eat sardines, but she happily cooks them for her husband, albeit with a peg on her nose because of the smell! But one day, the unthinkable happens, and Lola finds that she has run out of sardines for Lolo. What will she do? Full review...
I Love You to the Moon and Back by Tim Warnes
I do love a good bear story, and the bears in this one are wonderfully appealing. Sweetly drawn, in a gentle, loving story, this is a perfect 'winding-down' story. It's loaded with sentiment (I'm sure I'd be crying if I were pregnant!) and is just very sweet to share with small, snuggly, just out of the bath toddlers Full review...
The Big Beautiful Colouring Book by Hannah Davies
Although I have two small children, it's been a long time since I just sat and did any colouring by myself. Usually I am tasked with drawing various family members, or vehicles, or animals, and then we colour them in together. This time I sat quietly by myself with a pack of my son's new colouring pencils, and I quite happily passed a couple of hours colouring in! Full review...
The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again! by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
Following the success of The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules, the League of Pensioners are back – and this time, they’re in Vegas! I haven’t read the first book but it was on my list when the opportunity arose to review this one. The idea of the League of Pensioners marching towards a fairer world through fun and frolics was hugely appealing to me and this is a stand alone novel so I thought I would dive straight in with this one. Full review...
Just One More Day by Jessica Blair
When war is declared and her brother joins the RAF, young Carolyn Maddison makes it clear that she plans to follow in his footsteps and join the WAAF as soon as she turns eighteen. Despite her parents' objections, she stays true to her word and soon receives an invitation to report to the Air Ministry for training. In her first weeks with the WAAF, Carolyn experiences heartbreaking loss and witnesses an horrific accident that causes her to make a rash vow: never to get emotionally involved with a pilot. However, as a pretty young girl stationed at a base full of dashing young airmen, she finds it increasingly difficult to keep her resolve, especially when fun-loving Vera arrives at the base and starts flirting with Rick, the man that she just turned down. Full review...
Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise by Sean Taylor and Jean Jullien
As quick as a shooting star, like a wolf in the air, who could it be? It’s Hoot Owl! And Hoot Owl is hungry. Owls are well known for being wise, but what people don’t know is that Hoot Owl is also the Master of Disguise; a skill which he’s going to use to use to get himself some dinner. The question is, will it work? And what will he be eating for dinner? I don’t think you’ll be able to guess... Full review...
The Khazar Codex by Graham Fulbright
It's a brutal introduction to the story as a man is killed in the way that they did it in those days: two trees were pulled to the ground and the man lashed between them and then the trees were released. But that's only the background to the story which is set in the here and now and most of it is in The Kemble, a rather rundown theatre, which is presenting a revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. On the opening night there's apparently a fire, but whilst most of the hostages are shepherded out of the theatre a group of seven members of the audience, two cast members and the prime minister's son, Nigel Hastings, are taken hostage. The 'terrorists' (for what else can you call people who take others hostage?) represent New METRO, a group of activists who are campaigning for disused underground stations to be converted for use by the homeless. Full review...
The Minnow by Diana Sweeney
Diana Sweeney's The Minnow is an Australian book aimed at Young Adults that features death, grief, abuse, fear and loneliness. Teenage pregnancy lies at its heart while bereavement, and trying to come to terms with loss, bubbles just under the surface, constantly. But don't be misled. This novel isn't some earnest pedagogical attempt to convey teenage angst and elicit grave pity or understanding from the reader. What rescues it from mawkishness is the beautiful voice of the narrator, Tom (or Holly, if you prefer her real name). Tom doesn't fall prey to self-pity. She simply describes her world as she sees it, matter-of-fact. And the fact that her view is rather unusual (she talks to fish, dead people and her unborn child - and they talk back) doesn't really matter. Nothing can detract from the sheer lyricism of her voice. As a reader, you just have to suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride. Full review...
The Glory by Lauren St John
Alex is what you might call a disruptive teenager. She's always getting into trouble but the latest trouble is the worst yet and her mum and step-dad have had enough. Even her father, far away in Australia with his new family, thinks something must be done. So Alex is sent all the way out to the States to a teenage boot camp. But even naughty teenagers have their plus points, and Alex's is her love of horses. She'll do anything to save the mustang scout from the slaughterhouse. Full review...
Wild Adventures by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom
When I was growing up, TV only had four channels and games consoles came in the form of the rubber keyed ZX Spectrum. Despite these meagre offerings, we would still spend endless summer hours in the sitting room if our parents had not thrown us outside. In 2015, there are far more TV channels to watch and games come in high fidelity, what chance does nature have against ‘Call of Duty’? You would be surprised, as despite all the creature comforts of the front room, children still want to play outside, all they have to be - is inspired. Full review...
J.K. Rowling: A Bibliography 1997 - 2013 by Philip W Errington
Just occasionally it's necessary to begin by saying what a book isn't: J.K. Rowling: A Bibliography 1997 - 2013 isn't the latest book by J K Rowling - she had no part in the writing of the book and doesn't profit from it financially. It isn't, actually, about J K Rowling other than indirectly. It is a book about her writings, bibliographic details of each edition of ALL her books, pamphlets, and contributions to published works. It is not a book for the reader who loved the Harry Potter books and wishes that Rowling had written many more, but rather the definitive text about the books which will be consulted by scholars, book dealers and collectors, auction houses and researchers. The most obvious comparison for me is Stamps of the World by Stanley Gibbons. It is of that class. Full review...
The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart
Mark has been battling cancer for more than half his life. For the last seven years he has missed school, been through treatments, and come close to death time and again. With the call that once again the cancer is back, he just can't face going through it again and so he takes his dog Beau and they run away to go and climb a mountain, with the intention that he will never return. Full review...
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
Fifteen year old Adam has a list. He needs to get better, grow taller and marry the love of his life, Robyn. But while Adam develops a metaphorical tunnel vision so that he can focus only on winning Robyn’s love, everything he is ignoring in the periphery is unravelling. How can Adam help his own overwhelming OCD when he’s so focussed on fixing everyone around him? When is it ok to hang up your own superhero cloak and admit that you might need saving? Full review...
Karate Chop, and Minna Needs Rehearsal Space by Dorthe Nors
The reviewer picks up the book.
The book is called Minna Needs Rehearsal Space.
The book is entirely made out of one-sentence paragraphs.
The one-sentence paragraphs are very seldom poetic, but normally are grammatically correct sentences.
The one-sentence paragraphs on the whole have just one verb, unless regarding that from reported or unreported speech.
The book concerns a middle-aged musician and composer who does indeed need rehearsal space.
The book concerns a woman who suddenly gets more space than she wants when her boyfriend leaves her.
The boyfriend's departure causes a lot of people crowding around Minna, which causes a problem.
The problem might be resolved by a trip away from her city flat.
The title of the book might be ironic.
Full review...
The Hog, the Shrew and the Hullabaloo (A Harry and Lil Story) by Julia Copus and Eunyoung Seo
Harry the hog is just trying to get to sleep, when he hears a terrifying noise outside. It frightens him so much that he has to call his best friend Lil the shrew over to try and help him find out what the noise was. As the night goes on, they hear many a wild thing, but none of the noises are what Harry heard. Will they ever find out what it was? Will they ever get any sleep? You’ll just have to read and see for yourself! Full review...